Kind
by Flaignhan
Summary: She had a way of seeing the beauty in others, even and, perhaps, most especially, when that person could not see it in themselves.


**A/N:** This was a 2am _thing_. I've been watching all the Potter films this week, in preparation for the 9am showing of Hallows tomorrow morning (eeeeek!) and the way Remus spoke of Lily inspired this. It's not shippy, and I hope you like it. =]

* * *

**Kind.**

**by Flaignhan.**

* * *

Lily, of course, figured it out long before the boys did.

It took her a good while to approach Remus - after all, there was no _real_ way one could broach such a subject. She knew that she needed to, though. Whenever she saw the deadened look in his eyes when Sirius or James asked how his mother was, she knew she had to say something.

She would watch him in the library. He stayed longer than the others, no doubt finding comfort among the crisp pages of the books stacked around him.

Books didn't judge like people did.

Every time she thought she had plucked up the courage to say something, he got up before she even had a chance to move, replaced his books on the towering shelves, and left.

* * *

She wasn't quite sure how the situation came about, but Lily ended up confessing her knowledge of Remus' condition to Professor McGonagall. One minute she had been talking about her assignment, the next she was blabbering about how she'd realised that Remus always disappeared at the full moon, and when he returned he would look like he'd been forced through a garlic crusher.

Professor McGonagall's response surprised her somewhat.

"Well, Miss Evans, what are you going to do about it?"

Lily frowned. "What do you mean, Professor?"

"Merely that you are clearly troubled by the circumstances but are yet to provide me with any idea of the course of action you are planning to take."

"I'm not going to tell anyone, if _that's_ what you think," Lily said hotly. "Remus is my friend."

Professor McGonagall's thin lips curved into a smile.

"I wanted to talk to him," Lily added in a softer tone, "But I don't know how."

"Kindly," Professor McGonagall said simply. "You just need to be kind."

* * *

Eventually she lived up to the qualities of Gryffindor house and approached him. It was dinner time, and James and Sirius were scoffing their way through profiteroles while Peter watched and Remus doodled on a scrap of parchment.

"D'you want to go for a walk?"

Remus looked up at her, and the scar above his lip was highlighted by the floating candles. She knew it was wrong of her to pity him, but pity him she did.

James and Sirius dropped their spoons with a clatter and watched the exchange with unnecessarily low hanging jaws. Lily grimaced at the sight of half chewed profiteroles and returned her gaze to Remus.

"Sure," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bench and getting (stiffly, she noted) to his feet.

James and Sirius made a mocking _'oooh!'_ sound and Lily tutted.

"Yes, such a pity intelligent conversation is so hard to come by in our year. Thank Merlin for Remus, that's all _I_ can say."

She turned sharply, her long red hair fanning behind her, and marched off, Remus following with his hands dug deep in his pockets.

They were halfway around the lake before Lily managed to form words. The sun was sinking ever lower over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, their curfew fast approaching, and she knew that she _had_ to say something now, or she never would.

"I know you're a werewolf," she said abruptly, cursing herself the moment the tactless words fell from her lips.

_So much for _kindly_._

He took one look at her with horrified eyes before taking the first step of a sprint back to the castle. Lily grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him before he'd barely even started.

"Don't run."

His eyes looked up to the sky, wet and glossy with humiliation, his breathing fast and uneven.

"Remus, you're my _friend_."

After a moment, he glanced at her, only for half a second, his eyes dropping to the ground, unable to hold the eye contact, preferring the emerald green of the grass over that of her intense stare.

Lily took a seat by the edge of the lake and patted the space next to her.

He sat down.

"There are some people who might not..." she tried to think of a word but her brain failed her. "They're not worth bothering with though. Don't waste a second on them," she said firmly, staring out over the lake. "Dumbledore wouldn't have you in this school if he didn't believe in you, if he didn't know what a good person you are."

"Dumbledore's the only one."

"He's _not_," said Lily.

Remus gave a weak smile. "Thanks."

"And..." she continued, "Oafs they may be, but disloyal they are _not_. I'm sure if you told James and Sirius they'd understand. In fact, I'm not sure they'd be too bothered at all."

Remus shook his head. "I can't risk losing them. Not for anything. They're the only friends I've ever had. My kind...we're not supposed to have friends, we're not supposed to even be in _school_."

"Well Dumbledore's given you a great opportunity so I suggest you use it well." She paused for a moment. "I think you'd be happier though, if you told them. You don't have to deal with this on your own."

"_I_ was the one who got bitten."

"If I fell and broke my leg would you help me? Would you come and visit me in the Hospital Wing?"

"Of course," Remus said, his brow contorting into a small frown, as though he couldn't believe she'd even need to ask such a question.

"But _I_ would have been the one who fell," she argued.

"That's different. That's just being a good friend, a good _person_."

"_Exactly_."

Remus sighed and Lily smiled in triumph.

"If you don't want to tell them then that's up to you, but _I_ can be a good friend too, and a good friend is always there when you need them."

Remus turned to Lily, a solitary tear of overwhelming relief escaping his eye and trickling down his cheek. She pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back comfortingly, watching the tentacles of the giant squid move smoothly back and forth, just under the surface of the lake.

* * *

"Remus!" a voice whined, once they entered the portrait hole. "Where have you _been_? We _missed you_."

"Yeah," Sirius said, following as James approached them. "You can't go making _other_ friends. _That's_ not allowed." He put his hands on his hips and gave Lily a mockingly reproachful look. She laughed and shook her head, sharing a fleeting glance with Remus.

"Well you needn't worry," she said, "I'm off to bed now, you can have him back again."

James swung an arm around Remus' shoulders, tugging him into his side.

"You keep your hands off our man, Evans!" and with that, he planted a sloppy kiss on Remus' cheek, who twisted away from him in disgust, wiping the saliva from his face with the cuff of his robe. Sirius roared with laughter, drawing the attention of the other Gryffindors, and Peter giggled nervously, as though he thought he ought not to laugh at all.

Lily rolled her eyes at James, more good naturedly than usual, and bade them goodnight, climbing the stairs to the dormitory. She paused at the top, smiling as she heard James urgently ask, "Did she look jealous? She looked jealous, didn't she?"

"_No_, James," Sirius replied boredly. "You wanna play Exploding Snap, Remus?"

"Yeah," and he sounded happier than Lily had ever heard him, "Yeah definitely."

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**The End.**


End file.
